Vero Beach man guilty of murder in retiree's death after burglary

VERO BEACH — Nestor Perez assembled a raft from two 60-gallon tanks and a motorcycle motor and set off to get away from communist Cuba in 1994.

He reached his goal: freedom in America — something he was forever grateful for in retirement, sharing what little he had with his neighbors near Rosewood Magnet School.

That may have been the kind man's undoing, said his son, Luis Perez.

On Friday a 12-member jury convicted Vero Beach resident Leviticus Taylor, 24, of first-degree murder for fatally bashing Perez's balding head with a concrete block during a robbery of Perez' rental home Aug. 27, 2009.

Days before the robbery, Taylor was in the neighborhood and may have learned from a friend that Perez could be easy mark, his son said. Perez, 62, lived alone in the small rental home.

Taylor, according to prosecutors, was the leader of several men in their early 20s who broke into the home that night, taking a 22-inch television, about $200, two used cell phones and some miscellaneous items.

The jury deliberated Friday for one hour before unanimously finding Taylor, a convicted felon, guilty. He faces mandatory life in prison for murder and prosecutors will be asking for life terms for his convictions for armed burglary and robbery.

He will be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 10 by Circuit Court Judge Robert Pegg.

Perez apparently was unaware he was being attacked until the last moment. He was under the hood of his aging BMW doing last-minute repairs so he could drive it the next day to Tampa to give it to his son.

"He really wanted to see me," the son said of their phone conversation shortly before his father died. "I tried to convince him to come that night. He said it was late and he was tired."

Then Perez went back outside to finish work on the car.

"If they (the assailants) had just come up and gotten to know him, he would have given them money," Luiz Perez said.

His father is survived by a former wife, a daughter and another son, in Arizona, who is retiring from the Marine Corps after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In Cuba Perez was an electrical engineer. He ever got certification for that in the U.S.. Instead did electrical work and other jobs while supporting his family after they came to Cuba following his raft trip in 1994.

When he retired in Vero Beach his monthly checks supported himself and his estranged wife who checked on him daily while living elsewhere. Before he was killed she cooked him a dinner and told him to be frugal with his money. She counted about $200 when she thumbed through his wallet, she said during the trial.

The next morning she became concerned then he didn't answer her phone calls. At the house she found his body slumped on the ground when he had fallen after being struck in the head.

Several days later he died without ever regaining consciousness, police said.

Police said his wallet was empty of money. It did have a deposit receipt with Taylor's thumbprint on it.

"He'll (Taylor) will die in prison," said Assistant State Attorney Steve Gosnell.